Eric Coble
Eric Coble is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is a member of the Playwrights' Unit of the Cleveland Play House.
Eric Coble was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado. Before turning to playwriting, he received his BA in English from Fort Lewis College in Colorado, and his MFA in acting from Ohio University.
Career
Coble's play, The Velocity of Autumn premiered on Broadway on April 1, 2014, officially on April 21, 2014 at the Booth Theatre, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella, directed by Molly Smith. Estelle Parsons received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. The play had its debut at the Boise Contemporary Theatre before moving to Arena Stage, Washington, D.C., in 2013.The Spanish version, La velocidad del otoño, premiered at the Teatro Bellas Artes in Madrid in December 2016. It starred Lola Herrera and Juanjo Artero and was directed by Magüi Mira.
His play Bright Ideas opened Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Class Company, directed by John Rando, and has since been published by Dramatists Play Service, with dozens of productions across the U.S. His stage adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver has had over 300 productions on three continents. Other work includes Natural Selection, For Better, The Dead Guy, Virtual Devotion, Cinderella Confidential, and Pecos Bill and the Ghost Stampede. His plays have been produced throughout the U.S, and on four continents including productions at The Kennedy Center, Manhattan Class Company, Actors Studio, Playwrights Horizons, The Denver Center Theatre Company, Arena Stage, The Edinburgh and New York Fringe Festivals, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Public Thaeatre, Indiana Repertory, Coterie Theatre, Asolo Rep, Curious Theatre, Geva Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Dobama Theatre, Stages Repertory, Great Lakes Theater, Coterie Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theatre, and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival.
Awards include an Emmy nomination, two American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Awards for Best Adaptation, the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence Grant, the AATE Distinguished Play Award for Best Adaptation, two TCG Extended Collaboration Grants, Aristophanes Award for Best Off-Broadway Comedy, First Place in the Southwest Festival of New Plays, Heideman Finalist for Actors Theatre Louisville, three Best of the CATCO Shorts Festival Awards, the Cleveland Arts Prize, two Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Creative Workforce Fellowships, and four Ohio Arts Individual Excellence Awards.
Selected works
- These Mortal Hosts: drama; premiered at Cleveland Play House, OH, May, 2017
- TXT U L8R: teen drama/comedy; premiered at First Stage, Milwaukee, WI, 2017.
- Just Do It: 1 minute play, premiered as part of The Every 28 Hour Plays, Ferguson, MO.
- Margin of Error: dark political comedy/drama; premiered at Boise Contemporary Theatre, ID.
- Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple: Interactive stage show for Disney theme parks, CA and FL.
- Fairfield: premiered at Cleveland Play House, Ohio, May 2015.
- The Baker Street Irregulars: adaptation of the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, premiered at First Stage Milwaukee; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- The Velocity of Autumn: Broadway premiere starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella.
- Gathering Blue: adaptation of the book by Lois Lowry, premiered at Oregon Children's Theatre and First Stage Milwaukee, WI; published by Dramatic.
- Stranded On Earth; drama, part two of "The Alexandra Plays", premiered at Boise Contemporary Theater, ID.
- A Carol For Cleveland: adaptation of the novella by Les Roberts, commissioned by The Cleveland Play House.
- The Storm In The Barn: adaptation of the graphic novel by Matt Phelan, commissioned by Oregon Children's Theatre, music by Black Prairie.
- My Barking Dog: magic realism, premiered at , OH.
- The Velocity of Autumn: drama, part three of "The Alexandra Plays", premiered at Boise Contemporary Theater, ID.
- Side Effects May Include...: comedy, co-written with Marc Jaffe.
- A Girl's Guide To Coffee: romantic comedy, part one of "The Alexandra Plays", premiered at Actor's Summit, OH
- Huck Finn: commissioned by The Cleveland Play House, OH; published by Dramatists Play Service.
- Ten More Minutes from Cleveland: commissioned by Dobama Theatre, OH.
- Southern Rapture: commissioned by Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, NC.
- The Cleveland Plays, Part I: Migration: commissioned by Dobama Theatre, OH.
- The Machine Stops: radio play; adapted from short story by E.M. Forster.
- Ask Gilby: children's television program.
- 2006 the giver
- "Haunted": ten-minute play; premiered at Contemporary American Theatre Company, OH.
- Luis: dance piece; created with Verb Ballets; based on the short story by Richard Selzer.
- For Better: romantic comedy; commissioned by the National New Play Network, published by Samuel French.
- Natural Selection: dark comedy; premiered at Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- The Giver: adaptation of book by Lois Lowry; premiered at Oregon Children's Theatre.
- The Dead Guy: dark comedy; premiered at Curious Theatre, CO; published by Dramatists Play Service.
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- Uncle Sam's Satiric Spectacular: modern vaudeville acts; co-created for Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- The Machine Stops: adaptation of E.M. Forster Story: premiered at Hiram College.
- Vote?: children's play; premiered at Eckerd Theatre Center, FL; East coast tour.
- The Holidays: screenplay.
- Cinderella Confidential: children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- From Here: collection of oral histories from 40 counties in Ohio; statewide tour.
- T.I.D.Y.: dark comedy; premiered at Beck Center for the Performing Arts, Lakewood, OH.
- Tristan and Iseult : screenplay.
- Sacagawea: children's play; premiered at Oregon Children's Theatre; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- Dolores Conquers the Moon: screenplay.
- Baggage Unattended: ten-minute play, premiered at Contemporary American Theatre Company, Ohio; winner of Best of the Fest Award.
- Pecos Bill and the Ghost Stampede: premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- Strange Intelligence: short play; premiered at Imagination Stage, Washington, D.C.
- Bright Ideas: dark comedy; satire of Macbeth; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Dramatists Play Service.
- Straight On 'Til Morning: dramatic one-act; premiered at Great Lakes Theatre Festival, OH.
- Lake of Panthers: children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House, OH.
- Dr. Blitz: screenplay.
- Gold in the Bones: children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- Pinocchio 3.5: children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- ': drama; premiered at The Cleveland Play House.
- Myth Adventures: children's play: premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- The Red Shoes: children's musical; premiered at The Cleveland Play House.
- Virtual Devotion: dark comedy; premiered at Dobama Theatre, OH; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- The Emperor's New Clothes: children's musical; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Dramatic Publishing.
- ': Biography; premiered at Dobama Theatre, OH; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe: children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- : children's play; premiered at The Cleveland Play House; published by Playscripts, Inc..
- Sound Biting: dark comedy; premiered at Dobama Theatre, OH.
- Isolated Incidents: dark comedy; premiered at Cleveland Public Theatre, OH.